If Satan is bad, why does he punish people who are evil?

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
I have a green dragon that hovers over my head all the time. Prove that I don't. 😆

The burden of proof is with the person who says that there is a satan, not with the person who says there is no satan.

Satan is just a way of telling about a truth, not a fact.

So if the truth is the opposite of a lie, and the lie is the opposite of truth, what is fact?

Oh, and you better hope that the dragon hovering over your head is not the same dragon from Revelation 12:7 " And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels". 😉

Truth is defined as a fact that has been verified.

Originally posted by KPrince
Truth is defined as a fact that has been verified.

That is the modern understanding of truth and fact. But that was not the way people thought back in the days when the bible was written. If you read the bible thinking it is fact, then you will miss the truth. I know this because I have studied other ancient writings like the Lotus Sutra. When I read the words of Jesus, I see the Lotus Sutra in all of his teaching. He even gave parables that are very similar to ones found in the Lotus Sutra.

I think that believing in satan will lead a person to do evil acts. Far too often we do not want to accept responsibility for the evil things we do. So, we can blame the devil and then it wasn’t us who did that evil act. In my faith, we accept responsibility for all the things in our lives, even the things that other people do to us. This responsibility is the key to having true power in our lives. Too many people look outside of their own lives for something that only they can do. When I think about God, I do not look up into the heavens, I look at myself, for I am the image of God.

Originally posted by KPrince
I'm telling you debbiejo, the world I'm talking about, the world I'm living for, is not the world you're used to. I cannot guide you, only God. However, this discussion is for another thread, not this one.

Yes, like Shaky said, we need to be responsible for our own actions and not pass them off on a "satan."

Of ourse you cannot guide me, and I do feel that god or what I would refer to as god does..It's truth and goodnes to ourselves, world, nature, and fellow human beings.....But I'm not a Christian, so I don't see Jesus as you do. What does that say about me?...Used to be a Christian though.

I consider Satan a friend. I don't want to mess with this guy. He's jealous of everyone good or bad and he has no exception toward anybody-no human withstanders!

Originally posted by redcaped
I consider Satan a friend. I don't want to mess with this guy. He's jealous of everyone good or bad and he has no exception toward anybody-no human withstanders!

I see it as ONE (1) essence that has polarities. Not separate like beings.

Satan isnt bad. Satan is in Hell to punish the people that have been bad. if you look at it this way he is really working for the good side....

Originally posted by BlackShadeX
Satan isnt bad. Satan is in Hell to punish the people that have been bad. if you look at it this way he is really working for the good side....

Satan is really good. 😆 Satan is just like Santa, just a story. 😄

Originally posted by BlackShadeX
Satan isnt bad. Satan is in Hell to punish the people that have been bad. if you look at it this way he is really working for the good side....

Like a prison warden eh? But the difference is that the prison warden gets to go home and eat pop corn and go to the movies, isn't Satan kind of stuck down there? Does he get some sort of pay, or sick leave? Or retirement fund (I wonder if when he retires would he get some sort of watch, or a blazer, for like a few thousand years of service)

I remember hearing about some heretical cult that existed in the Eastern Roman Empire (as the east had lots of interesting things like that), where the people apparently believe the Devil had been evil, but had reformed, and due to this was actually mankind's savior, and it was Jesus who was actually the true evil. Kind of reversed to what it is now. Also kind of mad, probably from drinking wine distilled from fermented goats or something.

See the idea of satan and burning or being tortured in hell doesn't make sense. Because to be tortured would be hell on the demons and satan themselves....Why would the want to inflict souls forever, when they could be doing something else....

To be inflicting people that are still living is all mentioned in pagan myths also....There is always the good god and the evil nemesis.

It might help if I put it this way.

The devil appears to many as being more powerful than God, as a friend, as a comrad.

People flock after the devil thinking he is the answer, the solution, freedom from this nuisance known as God.

So the devil baits them and leads them along into temptation and then into sin and further into sinful habits and lives and characteristics. They are baited and trapped and imprisoned and chained by this their comrad, but they do not even realize it.

They do evil things whether telling a white lie to murdering someone. The devil, their buddy ol pal, brings their sins before God and condemns them. He accuses them.

If those people are not saved through Jesus (the only means of salvation), they along with the devil will perish in the eternal flames. A place that God wants no one to go, but that Satan seeks night and day to make sure he can take as many as he can there through his great deceiving schemes.

Satan is the ultimate Jerk.

because satan himself is being punished and in actuallity, evil comes from people, not some imprisoned demon. Satan is a scapegoat, and that is part of his punishment.

Wouldn't satan get tired of punishing us?...Wouldn't the demons go on strike? Who's there in hell holding the wipe over them.....

How can god create evil but still not sin...Isn't creating evil sin?

if we are to say that good emanates from God and evil from Satan, how are we to explain the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" which God planted in the garden of Eden? Here we have the knowledge of the two things brought together in the same tree, which was planted by God!

Did god just do evil.?

Originally posted by DarkCrawler
Wouldn't he like them for being sadistic and murderous? Wouldn't that prove to him that God is wrong in some way?

The devil does not think that way because he is irreparably wicked and evil; his mind thinks only malevolence and hatred. The devil loves no one, not even the demons that serve him faithfully. The devil knows that his nefarious actions are irremediable (there is no salvation for angels). The devil hates God (because he cannot be Him), he hates humanity (because God prizes us), and he hates his angels (because it is his nature, he does not have the capacity for any other emotion).

The names of satan—
1. devil—Matthew 4:1, 13:39, 25:41; Luke 4:13, 8:12; John 8:44, 13:2; Acts 10:38, 13:10
2. adversary—1 Timothy 5:14; 1 Peter 5:8
3. enemy—Matthew 13:39; Luke 10:18-19; Acts 13:10
4. tempter—Matthew 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:5
5. serpent of old—Revelation 12:9, 20:2
6. dragon—Revelation 12:3-17, 13:2-4, 16:13
7. prince of the power of the air—Ephesians 2:2
8. king or prince of Tyre—Ezekiel 28
9. lucifer—Isaiah 14:12
10. anointed cherub that covers—Ezekiel 28:14
11. day star—Isaiah 14:12
12. son of the morning—Isaiah 14:12
13. wicked one—Matthew 13:19, 38; Ephesians 6:16; 1 John 2:13-14, 3:12, 5:18-19

14. satan is a created cherub whose name was Lucifer—Isaiah14:12

15. satan was once a beautiful cherub who’s place was near the throne of God.—Isaiah 14:12-21; Ezekiel 28:11-19

16. satan is the enemy of God and man—Genesis 3:1-5, 14-15; 1 Chronicle 21:1, 7; Job 2:7; Isaiah 14:12-20; Ezekiel 28:2-19; Zechariah 3:2; Matthew 13:38, 4:1-10, 25:41; Luke 10:19-20, 13:16: John 10:38, 13:2, 10; Romans 16:20; 1 Corinthians 7:5; 2 Corinthians 2:11, 11:14; Ephesians 4:27, 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:26; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8; 1 John 3:8; Jude 1:9; Revelation 20:1-3, 7-10;

17. satan is the tempter—Matthew 4:3, 5, 8, 11; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2-3, 5:13; 1 Corinthians 7:5; 1 Thessalonians 3:5; James 1:13-15

18. satan is the father of lies—Genesis 3:4, John 8:44

19. satan sinned—Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19; 1 John 3:8

20. the devil will be cast into the lake of fire—Revelation 20:10, 15

21. satan blinds the minds of those who are perishing [i.e. the unsaved]—Acts 26:18; 2 Corinthians 4:4

22. satan is the oppressor—Luke 13:10-17; Acts 10:38;

23. satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy—John 10:10

24. satan was a murderer from the beginning—John 8:44

25. satan transforms himself as an angel of light—2 Corinthians 11:4

26. satan is a hinderer—1 Thessalonians 2:18

27. satan binds and afflicts people—Job 2:7; Luke 13:16; 2 Timothy 2:26

28. satan is a deceiver—Revelation 20:10

29. satan is our adversary—1 Peter 5:8

30. satan will cast into the lake of fire one day—Revelation 20:10

So when does this qualify for a ban? diggin up old threads...irrlevant posts to the point of spam...

Originally posted by clickclick
Ok what? Satan doesnt punish people because he has a problem with evil. Its the only people God allow satan have. Satan hates all mankind and wants to bring everyone he can down with him. He did it with the angels and he damn sure wants to do it with man too. As far as I can imagine, he is aware of what God wants to do with mankind. Possibly even jealous.

It seems as though Satan takes advantage of God's immaturity

Originally posted by DarkCrawler
Wouldn't he like them for being sadistic and murderous? Wouldn't that prove to him that God is wrong in some way?

Read Paradise Lost. It's a good'n.

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
That is the modern understanding of truth and fact. But that was not the way people thought back in the days when the bible was written. If you read the bible thinking it is fact, then you will miss the truth. I know this because I have studied other ancient writings like the Lotus Sutra. When I read the words of Jesus, I see the Lotus Sutra in all of his teaching. He even gave parables that are very similar to ones found in the Lotus Sutra.

I think that believing in satan will lead a person to do evil acts. Far too often we do not want to accept responsibility for the evil things we do. So, we can blame the devil and then it wasn’t us who did that evil act. In my faith, we accept responsibility for all the things in our lives, even the things that other people do to us. This responsibility is the key to having true power in our lives. Too many people look outside of their own lives for something that only they can do. When I think about God, I do not look up into the heavens, I look at myself, for I am the image of God.

Thats very useful advice, much more useful than if you dont cover up God will punish you. 🙄

Originally posted by BlackShadeX
Satan isnt bad. Satan is in Hell to punish the people that have been bad. if you look at it this way he is really working for the good side....